Tag Archives: United States

I am a big fan of Christmas, but if you ask me what my favorite holiday is, I will have to go with 4th of July. It’s not just that I appreciate stars and stripes (because, take one look at my closet and you will see that I do), it’s that I feel like 4th Of July has no pressure to celebrate any certain way. Sure, there are some traditions that are almost universal, but there’s no set group of family or people that you have to spend the day with. The term “American” is so vast, that really, no matter your religious affiliation, family drama (or lack thereof), bank account status, or celebratory style, you can have a happy 4th of July. You can go out or you can watch fireworks from the couch. You can grill hot dogs, or you can get takeout. You can wear an Uncle Sam hat or you can throw on an old tee shirt.

In a way, 4th of July is a lazy holiday, and well, it’s fitting, because America is sometimes a little lazy. But hey, when it’s the middle of summer, what’s wrong with an easy, lazy celebration?

My personal 4th celebration this year was easy. Give me friends, fried pickles, beers, and fireworks, and I’m over the moon, but all this joy also got me thinking about a few underrated freedoms that I and those close to me get the chance to personally exercise in this great nation. For example, thanks to the USA, my friends and I can proudly have:

The freedom to wear bright neon socks with business-professional shoes (like a little secret that only you know!)

The freedom to NOT agree with everything someone tells you to believe and to express this in a healthy way, publicly, without fear

The freedom to have our needs like food allergies, dietary restrictions, skin sensitivities, etc, catered to by restaurants and stores! We can be picky!

The freedom to take other traditions from all cultures and put em all together in a red white and blue melting pot and call it AMERICAN.

So I hope this Fourth of July (or every single day of this year so far) that you listened to some Bruce Springsteen, rocked an American flag bandanna, lit things on fire, drank a beer, ate a burger, ooh’d and ahh’d at fireworks, or that you did none of the above, because ultimately, you had, and continue to have, that choice.

There are men, women, and children of all shapes, sizes, sexual orientations, races, creeds, and languages who have fought for and continue to fight for our right to have that choice of celebration and furthermore, simply, fight for our existence as Americans, lazy and easy as it may be for some.

It’s a beautiful place we live in, and however you decide to celebrate this great land of ultimate self-expression is lovely and accepted.

So God Bless America, flaws and all. We may not have it together, but we can still be proud in the midst.

And no matter what, I can promise you I will personally fight forever for the right to have big hair, for all generations.